08/28/2026
Been a while since I’ve posted. I post too infrequently as well. I know.
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Been writing a lot. Working a bit. Writing even more.
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Finished a fiction manuscript (on my third rewrite - need to lose about 10k words - so not really finished🤦🏾♂️). It’s a mystery thriller set in this amazing city.
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I’m not a gifted enough writer to wax poetic about a place I’ve never experienced. So I took in the Crescent City multiple times. Shed tears in front of a sculpture near Congo Square. … Cried again under a tree whose roots once burrowed through the soil of a sugar plantation. … Stayed in the Ritz-Carlton once - for research because the protagonist stayed there as well. Ate at places such as Morrow Steak and Melba’s. Hit the Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone - have a sweet scene in that hotel. Did several workouts by the Mississippi River and explored every place every character visited.
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Want to see a city differently? Write a book.
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Probably my favorite picture from this bunch. Wanted a silhouette. Got that AND a halo around the Louis Armstrong statue.
Wasn’t expecting to get emotional. But there I was, wiping away tears.
Stepping ON the chains. That symbolism got me.
Congo Square
Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana
The Tree of Life is more than 50 yards wide.
This is a branch resting on the ground that seemingly blossoms into another whole tree.
Roots of Music
Buddy Bolden
Ritzy figures.
Sidney Bechet
This place helped change the protagonist.
Roots of Music
Minibar in the Ritz is different.
First opened in 1927.
Sadly little has changed.
She was heard throughout my house in my younger days.
Nov. 4, 1986 - the club decided to open it doors to Black members.
Stayed on the 36th floor of a different hotel. Frequently took the stairs.
Watch the second dude … stop making excuses folks.
